DHV Ranking:
Prof. Dr. Dabbert Named Most Popular University President in the State for 5th Time [26.02.19]
University of Hohenheim President ranked #1 in the state and #3 nationally / Minister of Science Theresia Bauer #2 in popularity ranking nationally
For the fifth time in a row, this year’s most popular university president in Baden-Württemberg goes to Prof. Dr. Stephan Dabbert from the University of Hohenheim in Stuttgart. The results of the President Ranking by the German Association of University Professors and Lecturers (DHV) were announced today. The award for the most popular university president nationally goes to Prof. Dr. Lamberg T. Koch from the University of Wuppertal followed by Prof. Dr. Johannes Wessels from the University of Münster. Prof. Dr. Dabbert led the state’s list in 2015, 2017, and 2018. In 2016 he was even the most popular university president in Germany. Another success for Baden-Württemberg: State Minister of Science, Research and Arts Theresia Bauer ranked second for the “Science Minister of the Year”. The detailed ranking can be found at www.hochschulverband.de/fileadmin/redaktion/download/pdf/presse/ranking-dhv_2019.pdf
“An innovative spirit that sets key impulses in a very pleasant way” - that was one of the comments submitted for the ranking. In all, however, the ranking is based on an evaluation using a scale ranging from “ideal person for the position” to “worst possible person for the position.” The German Association of University Professors and Lecturers (DHV) then creates a ranking using the German school grading system (1 is the best, 6 is the worst).
The most popular university president in Germany and the President of the Year is Prof. Dr. Lambert T. Koch from the University of Wuppertal (grade: 1.39). 78.4% of the voters from his university think he is the ideal person for the job.
He was followed by Prof. Dr. Johannes Wessels from the University of Münster (grade: 1.57), who was considered the ideal person for the job by 61.1% of the University of Münster voters.
He was closely followed by Prof. Dr. Dabbert from the University of Hohenheim (grade: 1.58). 59.3% of Hohenheim voters believe him to be the ideal person for the position of university president. 27.1% consider him to be a good choice for the position.
The DHV awarded Prof. Dr. Armin Wilingmann, Minister of Finance, Science, and Digitalization for the state of Saxony-Anhalt as the “Science Minister of the Year.” Baden-Württemberg’s Minister of Science, Theresia Bauer, came in second place.
“Innovative President” is proud of his “creative university”
Prof. Dr. Dabbert combined his gratitude for receiving the award once again with his congratulations for first-ranked Prof. Dr. Koch and second-placed Prof. Dr. Wessel: “I’m very happy about the results of the ranking and warmly congratulate the first and second-placed presidents.”
The President felt that the assessment of a “particularly innovative spirit” should be expanded to include the entire University. “The University of Hohenheim offers an environment that is continually bringing forth new ideas, and I truly enjoy the work,” stressed Prof. Dr. Dabbert.
That is also made clear in the strategy paper that the University of Hohenheim will soon publish. It shows how the small, strongly specialized University of Hohenheim links its competences in agricultural, nutritional, food, business, economics, and social sciences into a few overarching specializations for the entire University. The specialization in Bioeconomy and the cross-sector topic “Digital Transformation” play a particular role in the strategy.
In previous years President Prof. Dr. Dabbert had compared his leadership role with that of a band leader: “I feel a little bit like a band leader, who receives all the applause but knows that there would be no concert without the musicians and technicians.”
BACKGROUND: The award “President of the Year”
With the award “President of the Year” (“Rektor des Jahres”), the German Association of University Professors and Lecturers (DHV) honors the model management of the chosen candidate. The DHV is a professional association of scientists and researchers in Germany. The direction and execution of the ranking, which includes 60 universities, lies with the Center for Evaluation and Methods (Zentrum für Evaluation und Methoden) at the University of Bonn. The right to vote is conferred to association members who are personally invited to evaluate their President. 5,559 researchers and scientists took part in this year’s voting. In order to be ranked, Presidents had to receive at least 30 evaluations.
The honor “President of the Year” will be awarded on 8 April 2019 at the German Science Gala in Berlin. Detailed results will be published in the March edition of the journal “Forschung & Lehre”. More information on www.hochschulverband.de..
Overview of all winners of the award “Rektor des Jahres”:
- 2018 Prof. Dr. Johannes Wessels from the Uni Münster
- 2017 Prof. Dr. Lambert Koch, University of Wuppertal
- 2016 Prof. Dr. Stephan Dabbert, University of Hohenheim
- 2015 Prof. Dr. Helmut J. Schmidt, TU Kaiserslautern
- 2014 Prof. Dr. Lambert Koch, University of Wuppertal
- 2013 Prof. Dr. Jan-Hendrik Olbertz, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
- 2012 Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Herrmann, TU München
- 2011 Prof. Dr. Lambert Koch, University of Wuppertal
- 2010 Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Schareck, University of Rostock
- 2009 Prof. Dr. Elmar Weiler, Ruhr-Universität Bochum
Additional Information Details results of the president ranking 2019: https://www.hochschulverband.de/fileadmin/redaktion/download/pdf/presse/ranking-dhv_2019.pdf
Text: Klebs
